Nov012016

By: Liz Ford

The number of women in the world’s poorest countries using modern forms of contraception has jumped by more than 30 million in the past four years, according to a report that found the most significant progress had been made in sub-Saharan Africa.

At the halfway point of the Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) initiative, launched in 2012, around 12 million more women and girls were using contraceptives in east, south and west Africa. Countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique had seen prevalence rates increase by 5 percentage points or more over the past four years. In real terms, for Kenya, that means an extra 1.15 million women using contraceptives. In Ethiopia, the figure is 1.98 million.

In south Asia, an additional 12.6 million women and girls began using family planning since 2012.